In week one, there's barely time to get to know each other, or to suss out the competition, before it's down to business. It's boys against girls as Lord Sugar sets his first task: to make a new range of frozen treats, ice creams, sorbets and frozen yogurts, and then sell them directly to the public.

The 11 remaining candidates are challenged to design a new product for the lucrative parent and baby market. After a quick lesson in the joys and perils of bringing up babies, both teams are given just two days to design a prototype of their 'must have' product for every mum and dad, before heading to three of the country's leading retail companies to pitch their ideas.

An early morning delivery of a bouquet of flowers to the candidates' house holds the clue to the third task. Lord Sugar wants his remaining candidates to set up two rivalry floristry businesses. Both teams will go head to head in a challenge to win business from three corporate clients with very specific floral requirements, and they'll sell direct to the public too.

This episode sees a battle of the generations take place, as Lord Sugar sets the nine remaining candidates the deceptively simple task of selling to the over fifties market. Both teams must select two products that they think will most appeal to their grandparent's generation and sell them direct to the public at a major exhibition. With a range of innovative products to choose from, the generation gap soon becomes the least of their problems.

Lord Sugar turns up the heat on the remaining candidates, tasking them with developing a new brand of deodorant aimed at the youth market, which they must launch with an eye-catching TV advert.

With just two weeks to go before the final, the seven remaining teenage candidates must work against the clock in order to meet Lord Sugar's next challenge. Called to one of London's top tourist attractions, Madame Tussauds, both teams are given just ten hours to find ten items for ten waxworks. Under strict instructions to find things that 'look the part but don't cost the earth', the teenagers' powers of negotiation are pushed to the limit.

With the final looming, and six out of the original twelve teenage candidates still left in the process, Lord Sugar makes a surprise call to the house to deliver some dramatic news. Only two candidates will make it through to next week's final. Lord Sugar divides the teams for the final time and sends them off to Leeds, where they have to develop a new brand of popcorn.

Twelve candidates have been whittled down to two, and after seven gruelling weeks it is time for Lord Sugar to set his final task before deciding who will be his Young Apprentice and win the ultimate prize: a tailor-made fund of 25,000 pounds to kick start their business career. This being the final, the rules of the game are tougher than ever as Lord Sugar challenges the two remaining teenage candidates to create a new downloadable online game. To launch their games, they must also create a distinctive advert that has the potential to become an internet viral.

New series. Alan Sugar plucks another 12 young entrepreneurs from the classroom and gives them the opportunity to win a £25,000 fund to kick-start a future career in business. The teenage tycoons span a wide range of backgrounds, from council estates to private schools, and include a fashion designer, a trainee accountant, an events promoter and a farmer's daughter. Their first task harks back to Lord Sugar's early forays into the rag trade, as each team is presented with a ton of discarded clothes which they must sort, clean and sell to the public for the highest profit. But with money in the budget to customise their gear, some of the contestants splash out on grand designs, while others keep it simple.

It's week two and, as the remaining 11 candidates bid to be crowned The Young Apprentice - and take home the £25,000 prize to kick start their business ambitions - things are about to get tasty. After a punishing first task, Lord Sugar turns up the heat as the eleven remaining business-minded teenagers are called to a trendy French restaurant in London's Mayfair to discover their latest challenge. Both teams have to design and print a new cook book, before pitching it to three of Britain's biggest book sellers. The team with the most orders will win, and one member of the losing team will be sent home. The cookery book industry is worth more than 84 million pounds a year. But winning a slice of it isn't easy, as almost 2,000 new books, from celebrity titles to TV spin-offs, hit the streets every year. Both teams must first come up with a new concept, before testing their ideas at a focus group.

Lord Sugar sets the teams a challenge designed to hone their negotiating skills, as they race to find ten props for the English National Opera.

The candidates are challenged to revamp the great British tradition of afternoon tea.

Lord Sugar challenges the eight remaining candidates to come up with an original kids' club for five- to eight-year-olds and pitch it to industry professionals.

The remaining seven candidates must brand a hair styling product, shoot an advert and pitch their ideas to industry professionals.

The candidates sell products at WOMAD, a festival of world music attended by thousands.

The final four candidates must create a new brand of sportswear with the potential to go global, and launch their brand before the experts in this final episode.